page_title: Heartland rock
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Heartland rock / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB/Uhlemann/19.7.88/Berlin: Springsteen Konzert/ Der US-amerikanische Sänger und Gitarrist Bruce Springsteen gab zur Eröffung des 5. Berliner Rocksommers ein Konzert auf der Radrennbahn in Weißensee
context_page_description: Heartland rock is a genre of rock music characterized by a straightforward, often roots musical style, a concern with farmers, blue-collar working men, and truck drivers of American life, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment.
  The genre is exemplified by singer-songwriters Tom Petty, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp and country music artists, including Steve Earle and Joe Ely. The genre developed in the 1970s and reached its commercial peak in the 1980s, when it became one of the best-selling genres in the United States. In the 1990s, many established acts faded and the genre began to fragment, but the major figures have continued to record with commercial success.
context_section_description: The term heartland rock was not coined to describe a clear genre until the 1980s. In terms of style it often uses straightforward rock and roll, sometimes with elements of Americana with a basic rhythm and blues line-up of drums, keyboards and occasional horn section instruments like a saxophone. However, this common definition may represent an oversimplification given that Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, most often thought of as the archetypal heartland rock record, made heavy use of synthesizers, most notably on the hit singles "Dancing in the Dark", "Glory Days" and the title track. Lyrics are often presented in a style that is raspy and unpolished, adding a sense of authenticity. The genre was most strongly influenced by American country, folk, 1960s garage rock, the Rolling Stones, and folk rock acts such as Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, CCR, Bob Dylan, and The Byrds.
  Verses in heartland rock songs often tell stories. In some songs, those stories are about people undergoing hard times; choruses are often anthemic in tone. The genre is associated with working-class regions of the Midwest and the Rust Belt. It has been characterized as a predominantly romantic genre, celebrating "urban backstreets and rooftops", and its major themes include alienation, despair, "unemployment, small-town decline, disillusionment, limited opportunity and bitter nostalgia".
caption: Bruce Springsteen, the most commercially successful act in the genre of heartland rock, performing in East Berlin in 1988
exif: {}